Dog Days

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly.

A/N: Sam's parents will retain their names I had when I first wrote this story, meaning Sam's mom is still named Sarah. I do this, because I wrote this before we knew her name was Pam, and I intend to keep it that way.


Chapter 4 (Meeting the Animals)

"So Freddie, what do you think?" Jonah asked as he and Freddie sat on the back porch and watched Sam start heading for the barn. "You've never seen this side of Sam before, she keeps it secret from everybody." Freddie nodded and frowned, finding it unfortunate that Sam thought he, Carly, or anyone else for that matter, wouldn't like her for who she was. Why did she have to hide it? Why was she so afraid? Didn't she trust her best friend? Freddie loved seeing this side of her.

"You dated her and didn't know anything about this?" Jonah shook his head and Freddie muttered his confusion. If she dated Jonah, why had she not trusted him enough to tell him about this part of her. Jonah, if anything, got a whiff of this life, but nothing more than just Sam's happiness. "Didn't she trust you before what happened?" Jonah frowned and looked at Sam, he hated having to deal with that memory. He knew how much he had hurt her, and after he became a dog, he learned even more about how truly the trauma affected her.

"Every guy seems to choose Carly over her, and then I try to kiss Carly. I don't like thinking of that memory, I really don't." Freddie could see the hurt in Jonah's eyes, like he was struggling with something deep inside. Maybe he needed to be reminded that he didn't need to feel so bad anymore, what was past couldn't be changed, it was time to move on and try to live his life properly, to learn from his mistake and never do it again.

"Would you ever do something like that? I mean would you ever hurt someone in such a way again?"

"No. Not after that, not after how I saw how it affected Sam. I'm not that person anymore. At least she doesn't seem bothered by that anymore, but she is still bothered when guys always go after Carly than her. She does often get upset when she wishes she'd at least get noticed first." Freddie shifted his eyes to the ground and Jonah merely shrugged. "She didn't trust me completely, or maybe she did, I don't know. What I do know is she always told me it wasn't the right time for me to meet her family, that she didn't want me to see them yet. I later learned she was still afraid I'd judge her, that I'd start calling her things like 'country bumpkin' and stuff."

"Oh, and how did you learn that?" Jonah narrowed his eyes and looked at Freddie with a half-smile.

"Take a look. I'm a dog now. Sam found me on the side of the road and took me in." Freddie nodded and eyed the farm, seeing all the animals roaming about. He didn't think anyone would make fun of her, at least he wouldn't. She seemed like she did have a good family and was very loved. He thought she was doing a great thing by raising animals here.

"The guys don't know what she's missing. She is a great person, why would they overlook her?" Jonah narrowed his eyes and stared at Freddie as though he were a great idiot. Freddie caught this and pawed the ground for a minute, feeling guilty about doing the same exact thing. "Okay so Carly's popularity kind of outshines Sam's aggressive side. Yet, if she showed who she really was…" Shannon walked over, smirking, having heard the conversation. Freddie was starting to blush at his thought.

"Say it," Shannon quipped with a grin. "You must say it."

"Okay, I'll say it, lunch." He growled at her and she slowly stepped back. He sighed and turned to look at Sam. "If she showed who she really was, her beauty and personality would outshine Carly any day." He could see that she was a beautiful person, but he never really imagined he'd say something like that. "Anyhow, you'll never speak of that, lunchmeat."

"Ah there's the new guy, and he's making fun of the tiny poodle," A voice said from behind. Shannon yipped and Jonah sighed as they turned around to see a German Shepherd walking up to them. "I'm Isis, Sam's number one guard dog." Jonah mocked her and she quickly glared at him.

"You know, she doesn't choose favorites," Jonah chided as he slowly narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah right, and I'm sure you're actually a human." She rolled her eyes and frowned, she was one of the few that was still a bit ambivalent about whether Jonah was really a human or not. "So who are the new pups?"

"Freddie and Shannon, but Sam calls them Amato and Snowflake. They were human like I was. They got ahold of some orb and are now a couple of mutts." Isis chuckled and looked at Shannon, almost wanting to eat the tiny dog. She looked over at Freddie and tilted her head, she recognized the name, as Sam often spoke of him.

"Freddie? As in Freddie Benson, the tech producer of Sam's webshow?" Jonah nodded and Isis sneered a bit while circling Freddie, who by now was feeling very uncomfortable. "Can I eat him?" He paled and Shannon chuckled, finally someone was considering Freddie as lunch, and not her. Jonah shook his head and Isis growled. "Are you kidding? He's the cause of-" Jonah quickly silenced her, not wanting to anything to be said of Freddie just yet. He'd rather Freddie figure things out himself. "Fine, I won't say anything. I'm Isis, I arrived here about a month or two before Jonah, or Jock, whichever you want to call him."

"She likes to think she was the first one here, but in truth, she wasn't. The first was a golden retriever named Shadow, he's still here. He's a bit old, but very nice and wise."

"Only us eight are the ones still here, our caregivers still hasn't been able to find homes for us." She frowned and slowly shook her head. Since being there, several animals had come to the farm and been adopted. It made the ones that hadn't been adopted start believing there was something wrong with them. Isis pawed the ground and frowned with frustration. "Even Shadow hasn't found an owner. Families these days want puppies, not some old dog. They don't realize that old dogs need homes too! They could take a puppy with them too if they wanted too." Freddie and Shannon exchanged sad looks as Isis glared up into the sky. "Sometimes even the older ones are calmer and make great companions. We're all stuck here because we couldn't stay at the kennel, it's like nobody even wants us."

"Yeah, but you'll find someone, I'm sure of it." Isis groaned and shook her head as they glanced over at Freddie. He was looking at Sam again. He couldn't get enough of her, it seemed. "Uh Freddie?" He cleared his throat and smacked Freddie upside the head. Freddie jumped and looked over at him. "You seemed distracted by something. How are you enjoying the view?" Isis and Shannon snickered as a smirk crept onto Jonah's face.

"I have no clue what you're talking about!" He exclaimed in his defense. Jonah knew better, but it seemed Freddie wasn't going to admit he was actually starting to feel something, if anything, towards Sam. "I think we should go over and meet the others now!"

"Good idea. Let's see if we can find them." Jonah sniffed the air and smirked, he found one of them nearby already. "I've found Scooter! Follow me!" Jonah ran off and the others quickly followed behind. Shannon and Freddie stumbled somewhat, they would have to get used to the running part. "Scooter is a toy fox terrier. Sam calls him a little Terror."

"Why?"

"He's crazy, but fun. He's always running around, barking up a storm and nipping at every little thing he can find. Sam plays with him when she's not busy or isn't tired." The group stopped running near a pig pen and glanced around, Jonah was sure Scooter was around this area. He noted a pig looking up at him and smiled. "Hey Balloon, how's it going." The pig snorted and Freddie stared at Jonah with a look of disapproval. "What? That's his name. I'm not calling him fat."

"Hey Jock, er…Jonah, what can I do for you?" Balloon asked with a gruff voice. He was one of the animals that was still suspicious of Jonah having ever been human. Most actually believed him, though. "Just make it fast, I think Sam's coming around with the slop pretty soon! My tummy's just anxious for it. I need to eat, then I'm getting a mud bath! I'm hungry and I feel filthy."

"Wouldn't rolling around in the mud get you filthier?" Shannon asked with confusion.

"No, it's how they get clean," Jonah replied as he straightened himself up. "We're looking for Scooter, have you seen him around?" Just then, a small dog leapt up onto Jonah, causing him to fall into the ground. Jonah groaned out painfully and growled as the others laughed. "Nevermind, I found him."

"Hey Jonah, how's it going!" Scooter exclaimed while playfully biting at Jonah's coat. Jonah moaned and slowly stood up. He shook himself and sighed, glaring at the annoying pup.

"Why is it nobody's adopted you yet? I mean you're playful and all, so seriously, you need to be adopted!"

"Is he that annoying to you?" Freddie asked with a laugh. Jonah shrugged as Scooter continued going about as though he were hyped up on sugar.

"This dog has a lot of youth in him, that's for sure. Settle down Scooter, calm down mutt." Scooter yipped and started running circles around Jonah. "Looks like someone needs to cut back on his sugar intake, don't you think?" Jonah smirked and gently put his mouth around the scruff of Scooter's neck, lifting him up off the ground. He raised his eyebrow when he saw Scooter's legs were still going at a rapid pace. "Why does that not surprise me?" Jonah turned around and set Scooter on the ground, facing him towards one of the mud puddles. He released and Scooter ran forward, crashing into the large puddle of mud. Jonah smirked and tilted his head to the side. "Oops."

"Oh that was cruel, Jonah." Scooter barked and flipped in the mud puddle, he couldn't seem to get out.

"He was asking for it."

"Ah I would have done the same thing," Isis responded with a laugh. "Too bad Sam has to bathe him, the kid hates baths." After a minute more of struggling, Scooter finally climbed out of the puddle and slowly walked over to the group, sighing and shaking himself.

"Why do you always do that?" Scooter asked despairingly. "It always gets me in trouble with Sam and she puts me in this weird tub and sprays me with water and puts this weird looking foam on me." The others started laughing and Scooter rolled his eyes. He turned to Freddie and Shannon, then grinned, forgetting about his current sorrowful moment. "Hi! So you're new here? I'm Scooter! I'm really fun and really nice and really enjoyable, did I mention that I'm really fun?"

"And really hyper too…" Isis lowered her head and smirked at him, causing him to emit an nervous chuckle. "So, we're showing the new guys around. Can you be calm, and not hyper? Cause you know, if you're hyper…" She gave a toothy grin and narrowed her eyes darkly. "You're going to be dinner!" Scooter yelped and leapt back fearfully.

"I'll be good Miss Isis! I don't want to be dinner!"

"Good. Now come along and please, feel free to remain silent. One hyped up peep from you and we'll be having you for dinner."

"Yipe, yes ma'am!" The group started walking and Scooter stepped next to Shannon, sighing sadly. "Why do they always pick on the small dogs?" Shannon shrugged and looked over to see a beagle and Dalmatian running towards them. Scooter grinned and jumped up excitedly. "It's Sugar and Sassy!"

"We caught a scent of new pups and had to come meet them," Sugar said with a sweet smile. She looked at Freddie and Shannon, realizing they were the new members of the farm. "Hi, I'm Sugar, I'm glad to meet you."

"You too," Freddie replied with a smile. The Dalmatian sniffed the air, trying to figure out where a certain filthy smell was coming from.

"Someone smells like…wait…" She looked at Scooter and smirked while tilting her head to the side. "Did you have fun with your little piggy brethren, Scooter?"

"It's not my fault, Sassy! Jonah made me run into the mud!"

"Well maybe if you weren't so hyper all the damn time, it wouldn't have happened." Sugar rolled her eyes and smiled as she stepped in between the two.

"Can we please get along?" She asked in a gentle and soothing voice, she always tried to keep the peace between everybody. She walked over to Scooter and began licking his coat. "Here, this will keep you clean enough until Sam can give you a bath." Scooter's eyes went wide and he quickly jumped away.

"No!" He shouted out defensively. "I will never take a bath! I can't stand them!"

"Well no need to spaz out about it," Another dog barked from behind. Scooter sighed as a black Doberman came walking to them, he had a white spot around his eye, much different than Jonah. Sassy smirked at him and stepped forward.

"Well hello Fluffy, how are you?" She responded with a snort. Fluffy winced and growled at her. He hated the name. He often wished it was Sam that named him, but no, it was her uncle looking for a joke that decided to give him that name.

"I hate that name!" He always made himself out to be a tough dog, so naturally his name was a hindrance for him. "Just you wait, I'm going to tear that human to shreds one day! Isis probably wouldn't let me, though…"

"Nope, couldn't bring myself to allow that," Isis replied while walking on. "Has anyone seen Spaz?" She looked over at the new dogs and gave a smile. "He's a Chihuaua, by the way."

"There's a Chihuaua named Spaz?" Shannon asked with a raised eyebrow. Isis nodded and the dogs continued walking on, searching for the remaining animals.

"It fits him, that's for sure. He goes nuts over every little thing." Freddie laughed and slowly shook his head, Spaz sounded really familiar to him. "If you've seen how a cat jumps up and its hair stands up at the slightest loud noise, well that's Spaz for you. I've never met a dog quite like him, to be perfectly honest."

"Yeah, I can't wait to meet him." The dogs walked into the large barn on the property and found the golden retriever sitting down on a pile of hay.

"Shadow, how are you?" Shadow looked up at them and smiled, pleased to see the group.

"I'm good," Shadow responded as he stood up and stretched. "The whole group's here, huh? That's good." The group heard mewing sounds and looked up to see four cats on the ceiling beams. They each leapt off onto a stack of hay, causing a small dog to jump out of the stack in terror. Some of the dogs laughed and Isis pointed at the frightened dog.

"That would be Spaz." Spaz shouted and shot towards the door, but Isis quickly grabbed him and planted him on her back. "Relax Spaz, you're fine with us." She sighed and turned to the cats, who were now standing side by side, eyeing the new members. "So there are the cats. The black one is Nikki, he's kind of sly and a bit of a troublemaker." Nikki was caught in between two white cats, one fluffy, hairy one and another with short hair.

"Good to meet you guys!" Nikki said with a smirk. He was already thinking of ways to pull some pranks on them and get them in trouble with Sam, it was how he welcomed each new member to the family. Although, it seemed Sam was starting to catch onto his tricks.

"The white one with less hair is Powder, she's just about as sweet as Sugar. Beware, they might just give you a major sweet tooth." Sugar bowed and rubbed Isis briefly.

"Aw, thanks for the compliment," Sugar responded. Powder agreed and purred as she rubbed against Isis, giving her thanks to her. Freddie and Shannon merely nodded, understanding the sweetness of the two. Isis closed her eyes and sighed, she could just feel that sweet tooth coming on.

"Moving on, the orange cat is Cheeto. He's kind of lazy, but loves making messes that he likes to call art. He's probably the family's favorite cat, since he's often the one that always wants to be next to someone or in their lap." Cheeto smiled and lifted a paw, waving at the others. "Then finally, you have your 'royal highness' Princess, who likes to think she should be completely pampered and spoiled."

"How could you wait to introduce me last," Princess asked with a subtle scoff. Isis rolled her eyes as Princess pointed her nose up in the air and walked over to Freddie and Shannon. "It is a pleasure to meet my two newest humble subjects." The two glanced at each other uncomfortably and Powder cleared her throat.

"Princess, you're making them feel uncomfortable." She looked at the two and smiled. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you. So how did Sam find you guys?"

"Well, Freddie and I are just like Jonah," Shannon said with a subtle smile. Powder frowned apologetically and started to say something, but stopped when they heard Sam calling for them.

"Oh, we need to get going then," Freddie said as he looked away. He glanced back at the group and frowned, he couldn't help but to wonder why this group of animals were not being adopted. "One quick question though, why is it that you guys haven't been adopted yet? You're all nice, fun, sweet, everything that a pet ought to be…" Everyone quieted and Shadow closed his eyes.

"Let me tell you something," Shadow said with a wise voice. "Sam's family works with the animal rescue adoption clinic a little ways north of here. All the dogs and cats being adopted go there. Certain animals need to be sent here, those are the ones with medical need, need to be socialized, or various other things. We don't go to the kennel, we can't, they're different than us. Anyone looking to adopt us have to come here, and quite a few people have looked, but nobody's ever adopted us. To be honest, I guess nobody wants an old dog like me or a hyped up toy terrier." Scooter frowned as Shadow slowly shook his head. "There are many things humans like, but it seems they just don't like us."

"That's not right."

"Well, when you have an old dog like me, a hyped up terrier, a crazy Chihuaua, a Doberman that acts too tough for his own good…well, most people don't want that, and it seems those aspects turn them away from the sweet and gentle ones, like Sugar and Powder." Freddie scoffed with disbelief and stared down at a straw of hay.

"You can't be serious. I know dozens of people that would love you guys!"

"Unfortunately that seems to be the case for most of us. Most were also strays. Isis wasn't, she was actually a police dog. Her owner merely got tired and dumped her here." Isis closed her eyes and frowned, recalling the memories of abandonment. She wasn't a bad police dog, at least she didn't think she was. Why did her officer have to get rid of her? She let out an angry growl and turned away.

"Whatever, let's get moving," Isis said as she started walking. Freddie and Shannon looked at her with concern and glanced at each other. "Sam needs us with her."

"Yeah, she's right," Shannon said as she started moving ahead. "Shadow, it was great meeting you!" The other animals followed the group out as Shadow laid back down on the ground. They saw Sam looking around outside, almost frantic. Freddie let out a bark and she looked over and smiled, she hadn't thought to check the barn, how stupid was that.

"There you guys are! I was so worried!" Sam called out as she ran over and picked up Freddie. She looked at the other animals and froze her gaze upon Scooter. He winced and tried to hide behind Jonah, but Jonah stepped out of the way. "Scooter, did you get yourself tossed into a mud puddle again?" Scooter moaned as Sam set Freddie down and picked him up from the ground. "You know what this means. You're going to have to have a bath." Sam started walking towards her house while the other animals followed her. Scooter whined and Isis felt the need to comment on him.

"Just stop getting dirty and you won't be taking anymore baths!" Scooter glared at her and growled, but this only caused the others to laugh more. They didn't mean anything by laughing at his misfortune, but they did know they enjoyed teasing the pup.


This does bring back memories, I have revised some chapters and kept some the way they are. Hopefully you've enjoyed this chapter. We've learned a bit more on the other animals, this is good. You know the drill.